Smilefast educator Dr Geoffrey Hall has developed a comprehensive Mini Masters program for dentists taking on orthodontics

By Danny Chan

OrthoED Institute is a Melbourne-based orthodontic training company that focuses on general practitioners seeking to carve a new career path in the lucrative teeth straightening market. Designed with GPs in mind, the Institute has been running a 9-module, 2-year Mini Master’s Program since its inception about two years ago.

“If you’re thinking of getting into orthodontics but do not wish to put your life on hold for three years, this program was designed for you,” Dr Geoffrey Hall rationalises, comparing his brainchild program to undertaking a full-time post-grad qualification at the University. Stretched over two years to accommodate lengthy case study review processes, the program effectively boils down to 21 days of full-day lectures in 2-day blocks.

Despite a less hectic schedule, Dr Hall says at the end of the orthodontic course, dentists are poised to deploy their newly minted skills on the vast majority of orthodontic cases.

Delivered by specialist orthodontists, including Dr Hall, and other specialist lecturers, the course incorporates a broad suite of lectures, online materials, case management mentoring support, as well as an optional in office immersion program. Guest lecturers comprise of relevant field experts, including oral surgeons, prosthodontists, practice managers, TMJ and sleep apnoea experts.

Filling the gap

Backed by 30 years and over 10,000 cases of orthodontic experience, Dr Geoffrey Hall is one of the leading orthodontic educators for general dentists in Australia. He is better known as developer of Smilefast, a digital indirect bonding system touted to achieve predictable treatment results in just 6-9 months. Smilefast is also the name of a short-term cosmetic orthodontic course that has trained over 700 dentists on the proprietary system since 2012.

“Without a shadow of doubt, the Smilefast training course is the best introductory course out there that allows general dentists to easily integrate into the field of orthodontics,” the Specialist Orthodontist asserts.

While the 2-day course purportedly gives general practitioners the ability to straighten teeth in 75% of adult orthodontic cases, the experienced clinician acknowledges a limitation of his highly condensed training session.

“Many of our Smilefast course attendees have gone on to provide orthodontic services in their practices, however there are those who lack the confidence to take on actual patients due to insufficient practical experience.”

This is precisely the training gap that the Mini Master’s was designed to fill. Three years in development, Dr Hall believes the Mini Master’s course would equip graduate GPs with the knowledge, skills and confidence to treat 95% of all orthodontic patients – without having to refer them to specialists.

Affording a clearer picture of his motivations as the program’s chief designer, Dr Hall identifies several hurdles that GPs regularly encounter in pursuing the practice of orthodontics:

Risk analysis

As a practicing Specialist Orthodontist with decades of experience, he advocates the 80-20 rule for GPs: Treat 80 per cent of patients and refer 20 per cent of difficult cases. Making that distinction, he says, is “not as easy as it sounds” and requires in-depth risk analysis.

Citing examples of difficult cases such as “severe class 3 malocclusions that requires a lot of tooth movement”, Dr Hall reasons: “The beauty of being a GP is that you don’t have to treat everyone that walks through your door.”

One unique aspect of the course training is helping dentists make risk-based patient selection that considers such criteria as case difficulty, amount of chairside time and profitability.

“I hate it when I hear ‘profit’ being used as a dirty word”, he adds, “we’re all here to make a living and dentists are no different... there’s no reason to base your entire practice on difficult cases.”

Precise bracket positioning

Dentists often find it challenging to fit the braces in the correct position, which Dr Hall acknowledges takes a lot of experience to get right.

“To make (bracket positioning) easier for GPs without compromising accuracy, we’ve developed a digital workflow for indirect bonding that puts brackets on the model in the digital world. Similar to Invisalign’s digital set ups, our system is able to predict where teeth will move and digitally change the position of braces to precisely match the movement.”

Confirming the brand agnostic technology can be used with nearly any bracket system on the market, Dr Hall says that it will allow dentists to exercise more control over treatment outcomes while eradicating miscommunication between dentist and lab technicians.

Professional and Peer Support

Passionate about supporting the course graduates in practical ways, Dr Hall says the Institute provides a secure online portal for general case support as well as a digital computerised indirect bonding service. The portal also includes a peer group forum for course alumni to exchange ideas and help one another.

After they graduate, Dr Hall and his experienced staff team can even assist course graduates to set up their orthodontic service and provide onsite staff training.

“We have a suite of deliverables to optimise orthodontic workflow that can be adapted to most types of practice environment. At the moment we haven’t charged anyone for this service but that may change,” he advises.

Stepping stone

GPs who wish to enrich their résumés – if only to put patients at ease – can further use the standalone Mini Master’s course as a springboard to a Postgraduate Diploma in Orthodontics from a UK accrediting body. The Diploma is available as an optional extra stream (with additional fees) to full course registrants. According to Dr Hall, almost everyone from the graduate class took up the option – the only dentist that didn’t was apprehensive about meeting the exam criteria.

Course participants or graduates can also look forward to a 3-day limited attendance in-office course, available on first-come-first-served basis for those who have completed or are doing their Mini Master’s. One highlight of this additional module is a full-day hands-on photography lesson conducted by world-class photography lecturer Dr Peter Sheridan.

Dentists can choose whether to attend individual modules or the entire Mini Master’s Program. The full program is priced at A$22,499 + GST or $A27499 + GST for the full program including the Postgraduate Diploma In Orthodontics. Australasian Dentist readers stand to enjoy a special offer if they call OrthoED at 1300 073 427 before registration closes on March 10th 2020.

OrthoED Institute’s Mini Master’s Program is currently open for 2020-2021 intake registration. The program’s Module 1 (Diagnosis, treatment planning, risk management and case presentation) commences from 19th March 2020. For more course details, visit https://orthoed.com.au

Dr Hetal Patel’s entrepreneurial skills and vision helped build a successful English practice and turn around a floundering investment in Australia.

By Danny Chan

“Learning is a lifelong process”. The adage holds true whether you are a dental entrepreneur with a proven track record or a practice aggregator with a stable of thriving dental businesses.

It took equal doses of humility and ever willingness to learn from mistakes that led Tony Coulepis, Executive Chairman of Ekera Dental, to engage the management expertise of Dr Hetal Patel. It was Dr Patel’s spirited contribution, turning around a declining practice that Ekera Dental had acquired as its first dental practice in October 2013, that still serves as a useful template for the corporate entity’s unique acquisition model.

Living up to Ekera Dental’s reputation as a “non-corporate corporate”, Tony did not hide behind a corporate veil that is prone to mask inefficiencies and inflate profitability. In fact, he heartily endorses this article’s premise of how his company still benefits from backing the right visionary dentist, and providing him with the necessary tools and investment to restore Ekera Dental’s first practice to its former glory.

Praising Dr Patel’s efforts for steering the company’s maiden acquisition in the positive direction, Tony says: “Dr Patel was the right person at the right time for the challenges we were facing at the time.”

“It was an excellent learning opportunity for the Ekera Dental team and I believe we have come away more knowledgeable and better prepared for future challenges.”

Guts and gumption

Before moving to Australia in 2008, Dr Hetal Patel was running a successful 5-chair practice with his brother in England. From 2000, the Patels had built their practice from scratch with a simple formula: “Treating every client as we would members of our own family and surpassing our patients’ expectations – not just meeting them.”

Values of honesty, integrity and humility were ingrained in their day-to-day operations. The practice thrived and within 6 years, grew to a team of four full-time dentists and 2 hygienists servicing 14,000 clients – seeing up to 150 patients a day.

Dr Patel recounts pulling out all the stops to establish points of difference from competing practices. While many of the ideas may seem commonplace now, the passionate entrepreneur insists they weren’t so for England in the early 2000s.

From simple things like greeting every customer on first-name basis to sound-proofing all treatment rooms to using expensive plasma TVs as promotional vehicles to installing digital x-rays and setting up snack bars in the waiting room, these were considered fancy inclusions that no one was doing at the time.

Careful deliberation permeated every facet of the clinic, including its scent (using wood to absorb the clinical smells) and ambience (incorporating a cafe-like waiting area). As a testament to how uncommon these ideas were, they used an optical store fitter to build the practice as “dental fitters hadn’t gotten to this level of fit outs just yet.”Still, the most innovative concept had to be their membership-type business model, where patients signed on as members of the practice – paying a monthly fee by direct debit. Over 12 months, the fee would cover the cost of two check-up appointments and two to four hygiene appointments.“There was an in-built insurance premium that also covered them for free out of hours emergency treatment,” he adds.The membership program not only provided a steady cash flow but also converted the practice into a preventative focused clinic ensuring a constant stream of patients.“Patients would leave on the day not paying which made them feel like they were getting this great service for free,” Dr Patel enthuses.At the crossroadsWhile Dr Patel found running a successful practice both exhilarating and rewarding, he also realised that it was taking a toll on his personal life. “Something had to change or I was heading for a heart attack at 45.”

This epiphany soon gave way to the major turning point of his life and career: In 2018, he sold the practice and migrated to Australia with his family. “It was a big call and a scary one but again I was up for the adventure. I was cashed up and debt free. I felt a huge burden had come off my shoulders.”

For 9 years, Dr Patel would work as part-time associate, judiciously keeping a work-life balance. However, when the practice he was working in was taken over by a mainstream insurance provider, frustration crept in. “Once you’ve been a boss, it’s hard to fall in line,” he remembers feeling trapped, “I couldn’t control my clinical environment.”

It was around this time Ekera Dental was looking for someone to manage Smile Style Dental. At the crossroads of whether to change employment or buy a new practice, Dr Patel decided he would give the Ekera Dental challenge a shot.

“Ekera Dental was transparent and acknowledged that its first acquisition proved a learning curve for them and mistakes had been made but they were passionate to invest time, resources and money towards fixing it.”

Another turning pointChallenging Ekera Dental’s model from the outset, Dr Patel recalls making tough decisions – even ruffling feathers – pushing through with a new vision and philosophy. Dr Patel took over the management reins in August 2018 and wasted no time to revamp the clinic with a new modern image – one that he says “portrayed the calibre and standards we aspire to”.

Mission statements were scribed onto the walls for all to see. New systems and processes were implemented to ensure day-to-day operations were “purposeful, repeatable and efficient”. From a re-activated patient database, along with Dr Patel’s loyal patients from his previous clinic, the practice was energised with a fresh momentum as were the practice staff who enthusiastically followed Dr Patel’s “hands-on” model.

As good word of mouth began spreading, Ekera Dental continued investing in new technology and equipment. Dr Patel believes that investments such as the 55-inch screens connected to HD intraoral cameras, have proven to be invaluable in patient education and getting treatment plans approved:

“When a patient sees the problem and then owns that problem, they ask for a solution – without the sense of a sales agenda. It’s so powerful.”

Hooked up to these new screens were other diagnostic aids like Diagnocams and Diagnodent along with popular entertainment channels like Netflix. Dr Patel was also instrumental in bringing 3D scanning into the Ekera Dental group. “We had one of the first trios units in the group and now have digital workflows throughout our practice in all treatment modalities.”

Once the practice was moving in the right direction, the focus shifted to providing on-the-job training for clinicians. “We invested in ourselves and attended courses to improve communications with patients. We spent hours on time management and better treatment planning for them to get more from their clinical practice.”

Ekera Dental facilitated training in Invisalign and implant placement so that the Smile Style Dental team was equipped to provide a comprehensive range of services, significantly reducing outside referrals. The clinic would also rely on Ekera Dental’s marketing and administrative expertise to take care of all back-end duties, including payroll, HR and P&L reports.

“Throughout the process, Ekera Dental was open to my ideas and supported me whichever way they could.’

“The results have been amazing. We’ve experienced massive growth. The practice is thriving and its fortunes have turned around. Smile Style is now amongst Ekera Dental’s top performing practices and takes pride in being the jewel in their crown once again.”

Family of practitionersDr Patel’s experience working with Ekera’s operations team has been nothing but positive. Once again, alluding to their “non-corporate corporate” style of management, the dentist says Ekera Dental has an inclusive family-oriented culture that promotes healthy cross-practice interaction.

“Their model of allowing clinics to run without interference but taking on the administrative duties is very powerful and really allows the Principals to focus on clinical and day-to-day issues.”

“The group as a whole encourage Principals to mingle, share resources and provide a supportive network. Many of the more experienced practitioners offer their time to mentor other practitioners within the group – in this regard, Ekera Dental is like a family of dental practitioners.”

For someone who has built and sold a successful practice, Dr Patel firmly believes in Ekera Dental’s current model, to which he can claim positive contributions: “I cannot recommend the Ekera Dental model more to Principals looking to sell their practices.”

The ​Dental Blog Writer

Danny Chan

Danny is founder of The River Tree, a Multimedia Company based in Melbourne that provides Quality Content & Digital Marketing Services to Dental Professionals across Australia and New Zealand.